Inside the Braves with MLB.com's Mark Bowman

Braves will bring back their entire coaching staff

Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez admits that his offense never seemed to find a groove this season. But less than 24 hours after watching his club complete an epic late season collapse Wednesday night, Gonzalez sat at Turner Field Thursday afternoon and revealed that he and the rest of his coaching staff will return for the 2012 season.

“Everybody’s coming back,’ Gonzalez said. ” I invited them back and obviously they accepted, which is good. We’ve got a good staff.”

As the Braves lost 18 of their final 26 games and squandered the 8 1/2-game lead they owned with 23 games left in the National League Wild Card race, there were of places to place blame. The struggles of Jonny Venters and Craig Kimbrel enhanced questions surrounding the amount of innings they had pitched early in the season.

But one weakness that followed the club throughout the season seemed to be the offense, which was weakened down the stretch as Brian McCann and Martin Prado endured horrific stretches. This played a part in the fact that the Braves batted .195 with runners in scoring position during their last 26 games.

Still the Braves have opted to retain hitting coach Larry Parrish, who was hand picked by general manager Frank Wren to take over for Terry Pendleton last year.

“I think if you hire people, let them do their job,” Gonzalez said. ” If they’re organized, detailed and they work… it’s easy to fire somebody and just kind of throw somebody to the wolves. That’s not the way I work.

“You want coaches to be able to come in here and work in a good environment and not be worried looking over their shoulders about that kind of stuff. I’m sure LP will sit back and evaluate some things and maybe do some things different, like we all will.”

There will be more information and storied published later today on braves.com.

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Freddy and Parrish should be gone. Name 1 player that Parrish helped this year…… I’m waiting…. ! Freddie left how many piychers in 1 batter too long ?????? And started Lowe how many time after he hadn’t won a game in weeks ! Cut Lowe ! He is a has been and not even a good one !

Another reason they should fire the manager. If they do not change the hitting coach , which arguably, did nothing to help, the braves are going to finish last next season. I’m not sayng he’s at fault, but certainly there’s something not working, and they should change the perspective.

There are a few things about the staff I’d like to see either change or improve:

– Fredi’s in-game decisions. He was inconsistent at times with his pitching strategy when holding a lead. Sometimes he let starters pitch into the 7th inning, sometimes he went to O’Flaherty right away. That’s got to rock the confidence of the team to not know how to rely on each other. It also boosts the confidence on the opposing team when they start getting to a pitcher. Can you overwork your staff if you stick with a 6-innings, then 1-1-1 for holding & closing? Sure, if you play too many close games. But overall, I don’t think the relievers got tired as much as the pressure simply got to them near the end. Rookies that haven’t been there before can certainly take too much on their shoulders and not say anything about it. They just haven’t learned how to be cool yet.

– Fredi’s fire & passion. One of the things that it seems like a lot of players & former players have cited in the past was Bobby Cox’s willingness to stand up for his team. Fredi should have popped out of the dugout to argue Bourn’s caught-stealing in game 162 (for one example). Get thrown out if you have to. Fire your team up. That’s what the guys got used to, you can’t just totally abandon the strategy. I’d like to see a lot more fire from Fredi.

– Hitting coach. No disrespect to Parrish, but when you look at his stats as a player, it just doesn’t read like someone you would think to say “he DEFINITELY should go be a hitting coach somewhere”. If he couldn’t execute as a player, it wouldn’t matter how pretty his swing was or how much guys tried to emulate him (did that happen?). The first job I’d like to see Chipper get when he does decide to hang it up is the hitting coach. Because with his credentials, especially as a switch-hitter, there won’t be many other people better suited to mentor young players or veterans looking for an edge. I don’t think Parrish is the long-term answer here.

I agree, the main target for hitting coach last offseason was Don Baylor but he choose the D`back jod and we saw what a great job he did with them, I`ll like to see more fire in Fredie, sometimes umpires make right calls that you simply have to make them throw you out, it was a shame we lost our 2 best starters by injuries, this team is in good track, just by changing the hitting coach and starting Pastornicky at short, A.Gon is an asset at short, but in the NL East u have to hit constantly at full cylinders

The fact that they so quickly decided to bring everyone back really pisses me off. I thought for sure Parrish would be replaced. Until this team can make strong decisions we will continue to be just kind of there. Philly, NY, Boston…they take the strong measures when needed. You have to be dumb to not see that the offense failed ALL YEAR!!! It was a direct result of approach. An approach that Parrish AND Fredi encouraged and even said so towards the beginning of the year. Aggressiveness. I have lost some faith in my Braves front office today. I have this sinking feeling that until we get a new owner that cares, we are headed in the wrong direction and I am sorry, but Fredi doesn’t have what it takes to lead a winner.

Very sad that my off season has this sour taste in my mouth. So many things went wrong.

Overpaying for Lowe is still costing them. I can’t fathom they will have to deal with him one more year?? I am hoping someone will take on a portion of his salary, but if not – they need to eat it. He has not been a consistent front line pitcher since he arrived and he is paid like one.

Prado and McCann – they were both horrible down the stretch. I can’t figure out why? If they were hurt, they should have said something because I would imagine they both hit around 150 with RISP for 2 months.

Heyward – WTF. I can’t figure out why he hits so many weak ground balls to second. I know he will be the starting RF again next year, but I hope this is not another Franceour problem. Also, everybody raves about his D – I don’t see it. Anyone remember the last time he threw anyone out (i.e. Pence last night)

Bullpen – it is fine. It is tought to protect a 1 run lead against a top team. It should have been more. Borne CS and Wilson error.

Hanson and JJ – they competed along time without them and I have no idea how. These guys are both Boros clients and I can’t imagine they are here for more than one year. I would unload one now (preferably Hanson).

Hinske and Conrad – were both completely useless at the end. They may need to upgrade these bench slots. Maybe someone with speed or that could play defense would be better.

Rotation next year (in my opinion)
Hudson (rock solid)
Beachy (great year, very steady)
Minor (need that lefty and he earned it)
Medlen ( I remember what I liked about him last year). He needs a spot in the rotation.
JJ ( I guess he deserves another shot to stay healthy)

Others
Lowe (no way)
Hanson (needs to be traded)
Delgado and Tehran ( can provide some depth). I am sure that at least one of my 5 will not work out.

I can’t stop being a fan, but you guys really let me down. I will be back on the MLB package next year, but can’t even watch playoff baseball now.

If anyone is traded besides Lowe, it’s Jurrjens. And No way Medlen cracks the rotation. Hanson, Hudson, Beachy, Minor, Delgado, Teheran have that under wraps. Medlen was great in place of Kawakami, but it’s more useful to have Medlen as a swingman and Delgado in the rotation than it is to have Medlen in the rotation and Delgado in AAA..

Delgado doesn’t have anything “under wraps”. He needs another year in AAA. I also think Medlen needs the chance to earn his spot in the starting rotation back. Delgado had good results but he couldn’t go past the 5th inning and he gave up too many walks and hits.

Hanson and JJ are going nowhere, the Braves simply wont sell low on them. D. Lowe have to go and u have to give Medlen a chance to get his job back in the rotation, Minor is ready he just impress me a lot this time. Delgado and Teheran need more seasoning in the NL East u need a strong rotation to compete and having too many young starters can give u problems at the end of the season. This team is in good track, Parrish have to go, I`d like to see more fire in Fredie. A.Gon have to go, he`s an asset defensibly but in this division u have to hit at full cylinders to win, give a chance to Pastornicky, he`s a rookie but hitting .300 at AAA has earn the job and he`s a speedy guy who knows how to get on base.

As if humiliating this organization wasn’t bad enough, now he’s gonna bring Parrish back?! Makes no sense. people were calling for Pendleton’s head last year and they brought in Parrish, who didn’t help this team at all. Instead, they took a BIG step backwards! I don’t know if I can support this team with the way they keep mismanaging it to the ground. I thought for sure Parrish would be fired today, instead I get this. Sickens me to know he’ll be in that dugout next year.

I understand he doesn’t want their jobs hanging over their heads all the time, but there should be SOME sort of pressure to perform. It’s professional baseball. You get paid to win, not “be organized, detailed, and do your work.” Doing your work IS winning, otherwise you didn’t “do your work.”

Saying that Wren “hand picked” Parrish is a bit misleading. What I remember reading is that Wren had everyone advise him on the best options, and he made the decision from there. Not exactly like he went out on his own and suddenly brought LP in. As for Frediot’s “If they’re organized, detailed and they work…”, I’ve met plenty of people who could be described as organized, detailed, worker(?), but completely suck at their job by either not being qualified or by sheer incompetence. As for “organized” and “detailed,” remember when all of the coaches were asked which outfielder had the highest OBP on the team and all of them got the answer wrong? Organized. Detailed. As for actually working while at work being a way of assigning merit in the biggest stage of the game, unfortunately with some jobs you just can’t work harder to become good at what you do. It’s an issue of belief and point of view when coaching. Being organized, detailed, and a hard worker should be prerequisites that shouldn’t even be worth mentioning since it should BE ASSUMED that they all possess those traits! Bottom line is that the Atlanta Braves went from being one of the most patient clubs in the game in 2010 that manufactured runs by getting guys on with hits AND walks, and their plate discipline allowed them to drive these runs in at one of the most productive rates in the game. In 2011 the Braves were one of the worst teams in the league at being patient, drawing walks, and manufacturing runs even though the offense was supposed to have been greatly improved with the addition of Uggla and Freeman. The team tried to live and die with the home run. Who knows why. Maybe Parrish and Frediot preached aggressiveness. Maybe it was just a team wide malaise. Players hit hot and cold streaks, though with patience, plate discipline, and not trying to knock the ball out of the park every at bat, a team can avoid extended slumps like the ones that bookended the Braves’ 2011 season.

Since Bobby managed the team for so long and since I’m only 31, I have never been given a chance to scrutinize the decisions of any other managers.. but I will have to honestly say that Fredi does not seem to be intelligent enough or capable of making the correct decisions as a manager in major league baseball.

Freddie is an awful manager. This team scored almost 100 fewer runs than the 2010 Braves, even though it is a clearly more talented bunch of players. Freddie is an overmanager who can’t let sluggers swing the bat. If you want to play smallball, go to Seattle. The Braves are built to swing the bat.

I have agonized over my comments prior to submitting them. To say that I was very disappointed this year would be a classic understatement.

I am mostly disappointed with management skills on the field but reserve some blame for the front office as well.

I have been intimately involved with baseball for decades as a player, coach and spectator. I have watched every Braves game over the past two years either on TV or in person.

I fully recognize that baseball is not only a sport but also a business with pressures and decisions that have little to do with actual performance. The Braves drew about 2 1/2 million to the park and, with TV revenue, was a substantial money maker. Perhaps the front office is happy with that. For the fans, this is not enough.

On the field I have questioned the starting lineup, substitutions, pitching changes, coaching (or lack thereof) and tolerated poor performance.
Specific comments on various areas follow:

Hitting: For some reason the Braves philosophy here, both under Pendleton and Parrish is deliberation rather aggression. As a result the players ‘take’ far too many strikes. I recognize there are strikes that are simply well positioned where a batter can do nothing good with them. Many Brave hitters seemingly cannot recognize breaking balls in the dirt. Successful hitting coaching is mostly a philosophy and simple batting practice is only a part of that.

Pitching: The policy of having a starting pitcher go 6 innings (with help from a middle reliever if in trouble) and then finishing with a 1-1-1 policy is only acceptable as long as those 1-1-1 are on top of their game AND until the competition is experienced in seeing them and knowing what to expect.

Specifics: In pitching, it is evident that Derek Low is well ‘past his prime’ and may only be good for occasional spot starting (if even that). He has had a great career but, unfortunately for the front office and on the field, he costs the Braves $15 million a year. This is followed by Linebrink (also past his prime) at $5.5 million, Sherrill with minimal contribution at $1.2 million. Moylan is having rotator cuff surgery, which is far more problematic than ‘Tommy John’ surgery. It is unlikely that he will be able to return to equal past performance . . and he costs $2 million.

These four pitchers are costing the Braves almost 60% of their pitching budget.

Atlanta has the best future potential pitching staff in either league. Just think, the staff of Beachy, Vinters, Kimbrel, Minor, Medlen, Martinez, O’Flaherty, Teheran, Varvaro and Vizcaino along with Hudson (at $9 million), Jurrjens and Hanson (13 pitchers) only cost us about 40% of the entire pitching budget.

Other players: Jack Wilson (only picked up as a interim need) performed only so-so and costs $5 million and Eric Hinske (whose performance dropped) cost another $1.35 million. Brooks Conrad doesn’t cost much but we got less than we paid for. Jason Heyward still doesn’t cost much but needs both hitting and motivational help badly. If he hits the ball solidly, he can hit some real shots but he has a disastrous ‘glitch’ in his hitting approach and swing. He cannot adjust to breaking pitches than are ‘down’ and performs poorly under pressure.

All this being said, the Braves have a lot of nice guys but being nice doesn’t equate to performance . . . either on the field or in management.

The disastrous 2011 season is over. Let us hope for better results in 2012. This cannot happen without changes both in on the field management and in player personnel. Both the fans and the core of the players deserve better.

I would like to add to my previous comment posted earlier today.
In 1950 I was the Club House Boy for a NY Yankee minor league team and for 10 days (during an appendectomy of the regular Bat Boy) was privileged to serve as Bat Boy for the NY Yankees. Some memories there that will linger forever.
The following is noted: The Yankees starting pitchers were as follows, listing their record and average innings pitched per start.
Vic Raschi 21 – 8 8.1
Allie Reynolds 16 – 12 6.8
Eddie Lopat 18 – 8 7.4
Tommy Byrne 15 – 9 6.6
and from mid summer when he was first called up
Whitey Ford 9 – 1 9.3
None of these pitchers had ‘arm’ problems (either then or later) and ‘Tommy John’ surgery was unheard of. These 5 pitchers combined for 79 wins in a 144 game season. They all averaged pitching into the 7th inning.
Pitching philosophy has changed and arm problems have multiplied.
Even relievers were handled differently.
Something to think about. Is the modern way better?
At any length, some adjustment is needed in Atlanta on-field management.
On another subject and referring back to my previous post, Lowe, Linebrink and Sherrill need to go even if it means eating part of their salaries. The Atlanta Braves deserve to win in 2012.

David they have lower the height of the pitching mound which is the major problem as pitchers have more stress on the arm from all the breaking pitches they now throw. Nolan Ryan is having his minor league pitchers throw more fastballs and throw more pitches. In the past they threw more fastballs. I think they should trade Lowe and eat a part of his salary. If you replace him with someone like Delgado, who would make the league minimun, then you would still have some extra $.

I think it’s too easy to blame management and coaches in Baseball. Baseball is too random. Little things happen in games and in seasons that can have huge impacts that have nothing to do with coaching.
Is it Parrish and Gonzalez’s fault that Michael Bourn came off the base and was tagged out? If he’s safe, then Braves win because Uggla hits a three run homer instead of a two run homer. Is it their fault that Chipper misplays that grounder in Florida? That’s the one game that would have put the Braves in the playoffs. And injuries to Hanson and Jair. That was probably coaching, too. Where would the Phillies be without Halladay and Lee? I guarantee you if Halladay and Lee are hurt and Jair and Hanson are not, then the Phillies are playing the last three games of the season against the Braves for the division title.

What about Tito Francona? Did he cause the rain delay that probably aided in rattling that sox players when the saw the Yankees 7 run lead disappear? If there is no rain delay then maybe they are more relaxed in the 9th knowing that the other game is in hand. Or if Crawford makes that catch in the 9th? That changes everything. Then maybe both teams make the playoffs go on hot streaks and make the World Series. Then there is no talk of replacing managers or coaches.

re you serious ??? Your talking about one game !!! ALL season Parrish didn’t help anyone out of their slump. Pitchig Lowe after loss after loss ! Just think, IF they had been able to win ONE of those games Lowe lost ( 16 or 17 losses) they would be playing ! A lot of bad dicisions by Freddie caused the BAD end to a season that the Braves should have and would have been right on the heals of the phillies or even won the division !

the entire coaching staff should be gone but parrish and freddie the most. overused bullpin, kept rolling lowe out against teams that beat him like a drum. we saw the entire team batting average drop dramatically. all the time pretending nothing wrong.
Hey francona is available, or god forbid that idiot off espn, i can’t say his name because i will become nauseated but he still hates brave after what they did to his mets. I have an idea how about tp as coach in a yr or so chipper as hitting coach and i am sure we can get glavine as pitching coach. problem solved.

In 40 yrs watching baseball never wanted my teams manager fired…until now.Nothing good to say about F.G.Poor lineups,bullpen management and the players know it.Fredi demoralised this team and is responsible for the terrible Sept.T.Francona and the players for the RedSocks took blame and responsability after their collapse.F.G.brushed questions of blame and responsability.This was a much better team than F.G showed.

This is going to piss off a lot of people in the blog. I would like to commend Fredi and Frank on a great first year together. The team blew it, but I don’t think you can blame them for

Prados subpar year
McCann’s horrible finish
Lowes horrible year
Hanson and JJ’s injury
Ugglas horrible 1st half. We all love him now, but how many players hit 36 Hrs with only 80 RBIs?? He did have some opportunities at the beginning of the year that were wasted.
Heyward’s horrible year (maybe a little since they hired parrish)

Fredi made a gutsie call in the ninth pulliing Kimbrel for Medlen. Guess what, it worked. It’s pretty sad that a team with nothing to play for that pulled a bunch of regulars wanted a W more (or so it appeared). Who were these pitchers the phillies were using at the end of the game??

I admire Wren’s honesty on Lowe and Heyward. Lowe makes 15 million a year so no sympathy here. Maybe he needs to reestablish himself in the American League. Heyward did not show the progresss we wanted, but the raw skills are there. I can’t imagine they are going to sign another RF now? They need to see how he does in winter ball and give him another shot. They already have a glut of starting pitching, don’t need an extra RF as well. Keep and start him or let him play a year in AAA again.

No you can’t blame Freddie for injuries. How about the many times he left a pitcher in 1 batter too many??? How about starting Lowe after 5-6-7 losses in a row ?? How many times did he get thrown out of a game for argueing a call , maybe once ? He just doesn’t get in the umpire’s face !
So once he pulled a pitcher ( Kimbrel) at the right time. How about the other 161 games ????
Next years pitchers should be: Hudson, Medlin, Beachey,Jurrjens, Minor for starters. Hanson is too slow to the plate and allows too many steels.

In his three years as a Brave Derek Lowe went 40-39 with a 4.57. At $15 Mill per year that’s pretty bad, but let’s keep in mind that we had him as a 36-38 year old. People can trash Lowe, but none of us would have said no to that money. It didn’t work out, and Wren probably shouldn’t have given him more than a two year deal.

But it could have been worse.

During that stretch AJ Burnett went 34-35 with a 4.79 while making $16.4 Mill per year. A lot of people were desperate for us to sign AJ over Lowe.

A lot of fans seemed comfortable trading prospects to get a Jake Peavy who has gone 17-13 with a 4.49 in his three years in Chicago and will be making $17 Mill this coming season.

What were our other options? Jon Garland? Smoltz? Glavine? Over his 3 years here Lowe pitched 575 innings, more than any of the guys I just mentioned other than Burnett (and more than any of our other guys during that stretch). I hope Lowe is not pitching for us next year, but I thank him for being a horse for us the past three seasons.

Tom, I find your comments to be inaccurate. He may have been guilty of pulling pitchers too soon and relying on OFlah, Venters, and Kimbrel. Cumon, give me a break. He did stick with Lowe too long, but his only other option was Tehran who was being saved as a long man. Just like in Boston where Terry F won two titles in 8 years and was now fired, the manager is always the one people look to blame. Maybe, they should have looked at Carl Crawford?

Braves North – good point on Burnett and Peavy, They were the primary targets, which is why they overpaid for Lowe and KK. The only thing I can say on that is in the NL the ERA should be a half a run less due to the DH so the diffference is actually in Burnett’s favor and the Braves have a more limited budget than the yankees so FW probably should have been a bit more careful.

If the Braves fans want to blame someone for the collapse, please look at Mc, Prado, Uggs (horrible with RISP in 1st half), Lowe (of course), Gonzo (several poor ABS with RISP) Heyward, and Parrish (who was fired). We are all going to be singing his praises in 2013 when the rotaion consites of MM, JT, and RD who were all rumored to be traded, by FW did not bite.

I am still getting over the collapse, but next year they should be competitive (I hope).

Obviously you watched different games than I did. If you didn’t see him come out and remove a pitcher after him giving up another run, just after a visit to the mound befor the last batter. He stayed with many different pitchers too long trying to get to the 7th inning for Ofl, vent & kimbrel!
Even as early as the 4th and 5th inning trying to let the starter get the win, he left them in too long. There are many reasons for the collapse. If we had had a hitting coach that could have corrected Mc’s, Gonzo, Hay, hitting problems would have helped. BUT still the biggest problem was LOWE! How many losses did he have ??? Just 1 win and it would be different !

Junior, I see your point. However it’s hard to blame Uggla considering he led the team in runs scored, home runs, and RBIs. I agree with all of your other blames for the collapse. The biggest shock to me was the performance of Prado….let’s hope he regains for in ’12. Also, we did not get a lot of bench help from what I saw. Hinske and Conrad were much better last year. Constanza deserves the fourth OF spot next year IMO.

Also, I know I’ve mentioned it before, but we would be much better off if Chipper was a DH. That’s why I feel the NL is a superior league. Much more psychological challenges.

It looks like activity on the blog is reducing as people begin to move on. I am not there yet. I agree Uggs led the braves in most offensive categories. However, this is like winning a date from group of contestants on “the biggest loser” at the beginning. Let’s recap of how the hitters did based on what they have done or what what expected.
Chipper – as expected at this point
Bourne – as expected (at best)
Freeman – tough to tell at this point (I will say as expected based on Minor League Stats)
Uggs – below expectation (check BA and RBIs)
McCann – below expectation
Prado – below expectation (poor Martin became a zero tool player – no speed, power, d, avg, throwing (ok for LF)
Gonzo – came on at the end, but is 250 too much to expect? Maybe from him. We all know his situational hitting was horrible most of the year.
Heyward – duh
Hinske and Conrad – anybody remember any big pinch hits. I recall one bloop hit from conrad that one a game – thats it.

Not sure how the rotation will shake out next year., Tough to tell Tehran and Delgado they are not ready. Delgodo outperformed everyone (including Beachy) in September.

I must reiterate that they made the change they needed with Parish. I would not be surprised to see them try to move Prado for some more speed or power in LF, but I still view him as a 300 hitter.

Proving once again he doesn’t have the drive to use his talents to the best of his ability. 20 years down the road his family will think back and the first thing that will come to mind is “what could have been”.

I don’t know what is worse: the fact that Shafer was stupid enough to drive while displaying that he was in the process of getting intoxicated or that there are still podunks where it is a felony to possess less than an ounce of marijuana..

Knucklehead, where does writer say that possession of less than 20 grams is more than a misdemeanor? Shafer allegedly possessed 25.9 grams which is more than 20 grams regardless. As with your “expertise” concerning baseball, it needs to be asked, “What is your point?”.

Phillies trol,l at least we won’t hear from you after another epic fail tomorrow. And I stand by my premise that the writer was woefully inaccurate by implying that poss. of less than an ounce(28 grams) was a felony. You just can’t stand it when I prove you wrong once again. GO CARDS!!!!!!!!! Money can’t buy you the game tomorrow, Weinus.

Yes, Knucklehead, a/k/a BillyBobReefer, money can’t buy a game. Just look at the Yankmees. But by the same token lack of money doesn’t cost a game either. Just look at the Rays. So what is the Braves excuse, Knucklehead? No where does the writer state that possession of less than a ounce is a felony in all cases. You need a few more tokes yourself to gain some clarity.

The point is that no complaints were heard when the Braves were winning all of those division titles when the Braves had a higher payroll than the Phillies. The Braves even had a higher payroll than the Phillies in 2008 when the Phillies won the WS.

Welllll if we’re bringing up this topic anyway, there’s something to be said about the actual funding gap between teams. It’s one thing to say the Braves had a higher payroll in the past… it’s another to say that the Phillies currently have a payroll that is literally DOUBLE that of the Bravos. (85,973,189 more, Braves payroll is 87,003,192). So, with Phillies money, you could filed two competitive teams. That’s pretty staggering, and is not even in the same conversation as “the braves had a higher payroll in 2008 ($102mil vs $98 mil).That said, I’m not against this model. Keep the money flowing in, keep sharing the cap tax with the rest of the league. I don’t typically bitch about having the payroll gap… like some others, but I do reserve the right to consider the Yanks, Sox, and Phillies colossal failures if they don’t make it to the world series at a minimum.

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